BASEBALL

BASEBALL; Steinbrenner Changes A Muzzle Into a Prod

By JACK CURRY,

Published: September 14, 1993

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 13—
After more than six months of near silence about the baseball team that he owns, rules and cherishes, George Steinbrenner shed his muzzle today and challenged the Yankees to produce a pennant. Questioning the character of some players, whom he did not identify, Steinbrenner said the team had to respond in the next three weeks and not simply be satisfied with being in a pennant race.

After a 25-minute meeting with Manager Buck Showalter and his coaches in the clubhouse training room, Steinbrenner spoke with reporters near a row of concession stands at County Stadium.

He complained about the poor pitching the club has exhibited while apparently blaming Melido Perez and Jim Abbott for their subpar seasons. He tempered a comparison he made after his 30-month suspension terminated in March in which he likened the 1993 Yankees to the 1977 team that won the World Series. Eye to Eye

"This idea that we're here and it's great to be here is not enough," Steinbrenner said. "You got to go out and take it. I think Buck and I see eye to eye on that. The other guy is out there to take it. You have to take it from that son of a gun because he is trying to take it from you."

The Yankees have lost five of six games on this nine-game road trip, have slipped to third place for the first time since Aug. 11 and were two games behind the first-place Blue Jays going into tonight's game with the Brewers. Sensing that the Yankees might be losing a chance to capture a division title, Steinbrenner has become a more prominent figure. He was in the clubhouse after a 5-4 loss to Texas last Tuesday and had a heated discussion with Showalter. Now this.

"These guys will show us," Steinbrenner said. "I can't show you. Bucky can't show you. I know some of them are good enough. Now we'll see if the team is good enough. That's what the next 18 games will show."

Although Steinbrenner did not identify whom he was perturbed with on a team that has overachieved, he hinted strongly. Perez has not pitched since Sept. 3 because of a sore right shoulder, Scott Kamieniecki has not pitched since Sept. 6 because of a strained right hamstring and Danny Tartabull has played once in the outfield since July 16 because of a sore right shoulder. Steinbrenner excused Kamieniecki, but, regarding any others, he said, "It depends on what you define hurt as. Hurt is in direct relation to character."

Injuries and ineffectiveness have forced the Yankees to employ three rookies in their rotation and Steinbrenner intimated that Perez (6-14, 5.19 e.r.a.) and Abbott (10-11, 4.14 e.r.a.) should have pitched better. Last year, Abbott was fifth in the league in e.r.a. for the Angels at 2.77 and Perez was sixth at 2.87. Two for the Nosedive

"If we made one calculation that was wrong this year, it's that we had a great pitching staff," Steinbrenner said. "You guys see that. You're not blind. We had two guys who were in the top six in the league in e.r.a. last year.

"If we had gotten the pitching we thought we had, we might have been two games ahead instead of two games behind. Let's see if they have enough courage to pick up the slack. It's nut-cracking time now."

Steinbrenner continually referred to the 1977 team while neglecting to mention that the 1976 club had won 93 games and finished first. Conversely, the Yankees won 76 games last year and were not expected to challenge for first in 1993.

"The guys who haven't done the job know who they are," Steinbrenner said. "They got to get out there and fight for it. We had guys in '77 who would kill for it rather than have someone take it away from them or wait for it to happen."

"They've had a very good season, but I've said in the past that they reminded me of the '77 team," Steinbrenner continued. "Now I would step back and pause to see. At this point, the '77 Yankee team would have done whatever they had to do to win." A Delicate Position

In responding to the remarks, Showalter was in a ticklish situation because he did not want to upset Steinbrenner or the players. While dancing around several questions, Showalter defended his team's approach.

"It hasn't been a problem this year," said Showalter, who planned to have a team meeting before the game. "It's one of the reasons we are where we are."

Steinbrenner, who consistently complimented Showalter while oddly calling him "Bucky" several times, was not as thrilled with the players.

"Bucky's as good as anyone I've seen, but I'm getting to the point where maybe I'll get a little disappointed in people," Steinbrenner said. "I don't want to say it right now. I'll wait and see if they rise to the challenge."